Lazy Days of Summer

This is the last set of cards for Christmas gifts. One more thing off my list of things to do. I wanted them done before my new CTMH toyz arrived so I could give my full concentration to them. I've got 3 spots in Susan's swap this time, plus a couple of other projects to get working on. Not to mention getting the rest of our vacay pics scrapped before I get out of the mood!!

I used the Just Because cutting guide for these along with Lazy Days of Summer paper pack. Again, kept them pretty generic so they can be used for anything.

It's Your Day!

Michelle has another lovely sketch this week at CardPatterns. I've missed doing them the past few weeks. Time to get back in the groove!

This uses up the last of an old CTMH pp called Lazy Days of Summer. And it's the first time a stamp set I won in Susan's last card swap has seen ink. Shame on me! It's called Flower Pot and it has different pots, window boxes and all sorts of flowers to put in them. A very cute set! The inage is double pop dotted for a bit of visual interest.

Heart of Winter

No, it didn't make me feel much cooler using this old promo pack for more Christmas gift cards! This one has a "Diva" theme going! I used the ladies from the Be Yourself stamp set and each one has some Diamond Stickles on her somewhere for some Diva-ish bling! This was a fun set to do!

Twitterpated

One of my other projects has been getting some Christmas gifts done while I wait for my CTMH order of new products to arrive next week so I can finish scrapping vacay pics. I found a couple of instruction booklets from past CTMH promo's, so I'm using them to create some cards that will be gifted to someone. And in the process, I used up the last of a paper pack that will soon be discontinued. This one's called Twitterpated. I kept these cards pretty generic, so they could be used for just about anything.

Convention album

As is usually the case with me, I've got more than one project going at a time! I made this Convention album before Convention hoping it wouldn't take me 2 years to get pics in it. And I succeeded! I'm also working on the rest of the vacation pictures, but am out of the papers that I'm using for it and my order with new stuff won't be here til next week, so I've also started on yet another project that I'll share once it's finished!

Have some cake!

Needing a birthday card for Favorite Youngest Nephew Jake who will be 11 (WHAT? Really?!) next week, I turned to http://www.cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/ for my inspiration.

Paper pack is CTMH Lazy Days of Summer, which is now retired, but I love the colors! Works for masculine or feminine cards. Stamp sets are Happy Birthday and Party Blocks. I used Liquid Pearls on the cake and pounced the tip to give it dimension like frosting. The candles and flames are Stickles. Butcher Twine is Martha Stewart.

The grand finale!

We've arrived at the end! I think I've saved the best for last. These are some totally cool things.

First, at the Closing Banquet, they had Art Explosion Artist Michael Ostaski Art Explosion Official Home Page, Michael Ostaski, Master Artist come in and using nothing but his hands, and LOUD rock music in the background, he painted a portrait of CTMH Founder and President Jeanette Lynton on a huge 6' x 6' canvas in less than 5 minutes. Absolutely amazing.

Next, while I was sitting enjoying the breeze with my shooze off at the Jefferson Memorial, a girl walked by with these shoes on and OMG did they look comfortable! As soon as we got home, I looked them up on http://www.nike.com/ and found them. They are called Athena. I ordered them. And they are as comfortable as they look. Maybe more. So I now own FOUR pair of shoes!! They have a "sneaker-ish" sole, but they are so lightweight. I can see me getting LOTS of use out of these.

Last, but in NO WAY least. I gave John one challenge at Convention. Find. Me. A. Sticky. Boy. Anyone who had ever been to any CTMH event knows all about Sticky Boy! I've heard a couple of different stories about him. One is he was the first stamp Jeanette designed. The other is that when she decided to take the company from traditional red rubber stamps to acrylic, her husband David said we should call the new stamps Sticky Boys since they stick to the acrylic block. Whichever it is, it is quite a coup when he is found. The Corp gals go around when we are in classes, meetings, etc and stick them on mirrors in bathrooms, door handles, escalators, anywhere! So John spent the better part of a morning looking for a Sticky Boy for me. And his persistance paid off! Mine was on a display case next to the Art Wall. When we went back so I could have him take my pic where he found it, the gals who were looking at the Art Wall wanted to know if I'd rent him out so he could find THEM a Sticky Boy! Ummm...notsomuch!!

What a great time we had. As I said before, we'd love to go back again. Maybe this time stay a bit closer in to DC proper so it's not an hour into and out of the city. Maybe go during Cherry Blossom time in the Spring. Someday............................